Agents will explore Trademark tie-in

Thousands of real estate agents from across the country are expected to descend on the Lowcountry this weekend to explore linking up with a local firm.

Richard C. Davis, founder of Trademark Properties Inc. , is hosting a seminar for real estate agents who are interested in forming a business partnership with the James Island company. The orientation could result in a national network of Trademark franchise offices across the country.

As of the middle of last week, more than 1,200 people had signed up for the session. The guest list is comprised of agents who contacted Davis after watching his "Flip This House" television shows.

The A&E network granted Davis airtime in 2005 for Flip This House. After a profit and rights dispute erupted between the two, he flipped his show over to The Learning Channel with a new name, "The Real Deal."

Davis is suing A&E and claiming more than $1 million in damages.

Let the games begin

Uncle Sam has picked a referee in a showdown between Santee Cooper and a cadre of environmental groups over a coal-burning power plant the utility is trying to build in Florence County.

Last week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers selected LPA Group Inc. , a Columbia-based firm with 20 offices around the Southeast, to perform the federal environmental review of the proposed $1 billion plant.

Santee Cooper, which provides power to about 40 percent of the state, wants to crank the plant up by 2013, but it will need LPA's blessing before breaking ground. And a host of environmental groups are trying to block, or at least stall, the plant. They say coal is a dirty, dangerous and potentially expensive choice of fuel, and that the utility has not done enough to encourage electricity conservation.

At least somebody in the state will benefit from the dispute: LPA Group.

Thawing out

The U.S. Small Business Administration last week announced that small businesses in South Carolina may be eligible for disaster loans to help deal with damage caused by a late freeze this spring.

The SBA said its Economic Injury Disaster Loan program will be available to farm-related and nonfarm-related small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that suffered economic injury as a direct result of the freezing temperatures from April 7 through April 10. Farmers and ranchers are not eligible.

Businesses may be able to qualify for loans up to $1.5 million at a 4 percent interest rate with terms up to 30 years. The SBA said it determines eligibility for the program based on the size and type of business, and its financial resources.

More information is available from the SBA at (800) 659-2955. Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA's Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Completed loan applications are due no later than Feb. 26, 2008.

Shadow boxing

As negotiations between clerical workers and shippers continue at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the threat of a walkout at the biggest port complex in the United States is unlikely to have an effect in Charleston.

Late last week, as talks between the two sides continued, West Coast media reported that only a handful of issues remained before a tentative agreement was reached.

The roughly 750 clerks who work at marine terminals at the ports handle an array of cargo transportation documents. Their previous contract expired at the end of June. The two sprawling California ports account for about 40 percent of all cargo container traffic that comes to the U.S.

Employees, represented by Local 63 Office Clerical Unit of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, have threatened to walk off the job after nearly two months of talks with marine terminal operators and shippers didn't result in an agreement.

But even if industrial action is taken, the Port of Charleston is unlikely to notice, officials here said last week.

It typically takes time for that kind of activity on the West Coast to reach the Eastern Seaboard, said Byron Miller, spokesman for the State Ports Authority. It simply is a logistical nightmare for shipping companies to reroute cargo to alternate ports, especially to terminals on the other side of the country.

Beyond that, Miller said, it's not the SPA's place to comment on labor relations here or at any other port.